


Duende

by Principia



Series: Carmichael Industries 2.0 [2]
Category: Chuck (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Post-Season/Series 05 Finale, Request Meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-22
Updated: 2013-09-22
Packaged: 2017-12-27 07:21:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/976043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Principia/pseuds/Principia





	Duende

Maybe the most impressive thing for Sarah tonight was getting to take in Chuck in all his glory. Seeing how the gap between who Chuck had become and what his younger self had thought a spy _should_ be had turned into the Grand Canyon.

Her own father had scarcely stuck around long enough to see a glimpse of it, but in the past Chuck really would’ve done Jack proud, the Crown Prince of Fake It ‘Til You Make It.The Chuck who  _acted_ like he thought he was better until no-one outside of Team Bartowski thought to question it.

Seeing Chuck these days, the Chuck who  _knew_ he was better,  _oh_ , what a difference that made.

Not in a bad way. Not at _all_.

Chuck Bartowski had so completely surpassed Charles Carmichael and the kind of men who’d served to form that template, both as a spy and a man, that watching him slip back into the Carmichael persona was like watching him try to squeeze into one of _his_ father’s old suits. Not one of the ones Stephen had deliberately bought oversized to better conceal the tools of his trade, either, now that  Chuck didn’t need to fake being a man of mystery to prop up his confidence.

Still, it was incredibly entertaining to watch Chuck use Carmichael as a tool, for disarming and distracting the type of people shallow enough to be drawn to that kind of personality. People who could be satisfied by the smooth flattery and practiced, debonair detachment that was all Charles Carmichael had to offer, when all the while Chuck was making a thorough assessment of the likeliest people to be involved in the illegal exportation of restricted biotech from Schuyler Agronomics and managing to pass that information back to his team undetected.

Chuck’s look was completely on-point tonight, his suit a sharp, modern-cut bespoke affair, which anyone who cared about such things would understand to be a statement. That even though he found this evening’s festivities to be something barely interesting enough to warrant attendance, Charles Carmichael wouldn’t be caught dead stepping out in anything less.

If anyone wondered why Carmichael was barely noticing any of the food offered by the passing waitstaff, instead toying with the olives in his martini as he took in the other guests, it merely added to the cultivated air of high standards and exquisite boredom. It would’ve been _impolite_ not to be here, as an apparent would-be major investor.

The other guests hadn’t been on the receiving end of _Chuck’s_ earnest consternation at the thought that he might get something on a suit that cost more than his first used car, even though these days he could easily afford a hundred more just like it.

And his well-developed tan played straight into the story that Carmichael was summering in his yacht along the coast — even though the tan had really been earned while acting as chief assistant to his visiting niece and young sister-in-law at a U-Pick orchard in the Antelope Valley this past weekend.

The entire package was working wonders on the unattached women at this gala, and not a few of the men and married women. Despite the flutterings among the crowd, and the ages it had been since Sarah had had to pretend for any extended period that she wasn’t devoted to Chuck, it was relatively simple to play at being unaffected, no matter _how_ ridiculously hot he looked.

First, because Sarah had already been seen paying plenty of mind to DeMarcus Schuyler before she and _Charles_ had been introduced and she’d been given the erstwhile brush-off. Second, because Sarah knew _exactly_ who he was going home with ( _with whom_ , her inner schoolteacher barked), no speculation or strategizing necessary.

And finally, because from among the various admirers who’d drifted into Carmichael’s orbit — most of whom had received a few moments of consummate attention and then a polite dismissal — the one who _appeared_ to be fortunate enough to keep his interest was none other than the soon-to-be-former Mrs. DeMarcus Schuyler.

Though Mrs. Leona Winton Schuyler been _quite_ sure to introduce herself to Mr. Carmichael by her _maiden_ name.

Sarah smiled over at Mr. Schuyler once more, hopefully not  _too_  sympathetically. She knew it had to sting for DeMarcus, seeing his wife trying to make time with another man, instead of appreciating the hard-working, scholarly man she’d married.

Sarah was also sure there had to be _some_ reason this woman was grating on her in particular, besides on general principle and the faint similarity to how Jill Roberts had stomped all over Chuck’s heart twice upon a time. Or even that Leona was one of the prime suspects for who was behind the dirty dealings Carmichael Industries was helping DeMarcus to clean up.  Sarah would have to file that away as one of those ‘things to ask Chuck about.’

In the meantime, she needed to quit admiring her husband’s spycraft and other assets, and concentrate on keeping _her_ end up. She couldn’t afford to succumb to _Chuck Bartowski’s_ charms until after this evening was over.

And then he was _all hers_.


End file.
